


A Study in Laughter

by BlueTwilight



Category: MindCrack
Genre: Could be Kurt/Zisteau if you want, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-28
Updated: 2014-01-28
Packaged: 2018-02-07 17:43:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1908027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueTwilight/pseuds/BlueTwilight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zisteau over-analyzes everything... so, nothing new.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Study in Laughter

KurtJMac had two different kinds of laughs. Well more than that, really, but two basic categories. There was the polite kind and then the real kind. Zisteau used the term “real” loosely, because it wasn’t as if the polite laughs were always fake, technically. The polite laughter was the kind that he allowed everybody to hear; the kind of chuckle that he might offer to someone who made a mediocre joke that he didn’t actually find funny, but thought it might be rude not to laugh. Zisteau used to catch him using that laugh with him, sometimes, and when that happened he knew that whatever joke he made must have been really dumb. Recently, though, Kurt would just roll his eyes instead of trying to make him feel better about his crappy jokes. The other situation in which Kurt might use his polite laugh was when an acquaintance really did say something he found to be genuinely funny, but for some reason he forced himself not to show how amused he was. Sometimes, if Zisteau was paying enough attention, he could see Kurt’s facial muscles straining with the effort of holding himself together after Guude, Pause, or whoever else said something hilarious. For the life of him, Zisteau couldn’t figure out why he wouldn’t just let it out. Maybe he was self-conscious? Kurt did tend to get nervous over the silliest of things.

The other kind was far more interesting, though. It was his real laugh, the one that Zisteau only ever heard Kurt use when they were alone. Well, that wasn’t entirely true… sometimes it might slip out for a brief moment when he was recording. And maybe there was someone else with whom Kurt used his true laugh, but somehow Zisteau didn’t think so. He wished his friend would let it out more often since, unlike the quiet, uniform sound of his polite chuckle, the sound of Kurt’s uninhibited laugh had the ability to light up a room. Sometimes his laugh was a roar, sometimes a giggle, and sometimes he even snorted, depending on the situation. But every time it was infectious and left Zisteau grinning from ear to ear.

One day, when the two of them were playing Minecraft at Zisteau’s place, he decided to ask Kurt about it. They had been forced to pause the game when his friend had gotten a phone call. It must have been important, because Kurt hated to talk on the phone and wouldn’t have answered it if it was anything trivial. The fact that Zisteau could hear Kurt’s polite laughter through the closed door between them only confirmed this. He made an effort not to eavesdrop, but the forced chuckle still reached Zisteau’s ears and irked him for some reason. When Kurt returned after the short conversation, Zisteau leaned back in his chair and said casually,

“Must have been something important. Another interview?” Kurt had already gotten a couple interviews recently in regards to his FLoB series, so it wasn’t a far leap. His friend blinked and set his phone down, the corners of his mouth twitching up into a small smile.

“How did you know?” Zisteau’s hands went behind his head, giving him a smug, relaxed look. His mouth quirked up into a grin, pleased that he’d managed to guess it on his first go.

“You were using your polite laugh.” He said as if it were obvious. Kurt burst into one of his real laughs at that.

“My polite laugh? I was unaware that there were different kinds.” Zisteau had almost forgotten that he hadn’t shared his theories on laughter with his friend, and was surprised that Kurt didn’t know about his own mannerisms. You can’t see the forest for the trees, he supposed.

“Yeah, you know… you sound different when you laugh around other people. Like… deeper and more… plain.” Now that he had to explain it aloud, Zisteau was at a loss for words. Kurt seemed to understand, though, because he looked thoughtful.

“Really? I didn’t know.” There was a moment of awkward silence as Kurt sat down at the desk they were currently sharing. He grabbed his mouse, but hesitated to resume the game. “Does it bother you? My, uh, ‘polite’ laugh.”

Zisteau hesitated for a long moment before answering. His initial instinct was to say yes because, for some reason, it did bother him. He thought maybe it frustrated him that Kurt was so reserved and controlled, but he knew better than to ask his friend to change the core of who he was. But selfishly, Zisteau was glad for the existence of those barriers between Kurt and the outside world. The fact that he recognized their existence at all showed the level of trust Kurt had in him, and the thought that only he was allowed to see his friend’s raw emotions gave him a warm feeling in his chest. Of course, he couldn’t say all of this to Kurt… it sounded way too weird and possessive to say that he spent so much time analyzing something as simple as Kurt’s laughter. So instead he settled for a beaming smile and simply said,

“No, it doesn’t bother me one bit.”


End file.
